Sanctuary
by ShinyaSp
Summary: When a child with magical blood turns 11, they receive a letter, telling them they have been accepted to a prestigious school of magic. After waiting for years, watching their older brother leave for Hogwarts, Sora and Roxas finally get to immerse themselves in the magical world of witchcraft and wizardry. [Kingdom Hearts in a Harry Potter alternate universe]
1. chapter 1

The clock barely marked 7am when a brunet walked down the stairs, stifling a yawn while doing so. Leon had been going to sleep pretty late, managing between spending time with his brothers at the same time as preparing a syllabus for his next term at Hogwarts.

Yeah, Squall -Leon, mind you- Leonhart was a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Some tried to fight back and say Ilvermouny or Durmstrang was better, but nope, for Leon, Hogwarts was the best school, so he always tried to develop an interesting syllabus for his students.

Going back to the topic of his brothers, this year would be their first at Hogwarts, it still felt surreal, having them as students, or see them running around in the hallways.

They weren't really his brothers by blood, his mum had took them in when their parents died, but the chocolate-haired man considered them brothers like they were of his own blood.

Speaking of which, Leon had to dodge a bit, sensing a storm coming. That storm being his brother Sora, who came running down the stairs.

"Good morning Leon!" The little cinnamon-haired boy jumped down the stairs, almost falling off the last two steps if Leon hadn't grabbed his pajama shirt, the older brother already used to catching Sora while he fell down the stairs.

"Morning..." He placed Sora down slowly, watching almost in an amused way as he barely put Sora down that he started running again "You're up early."

The cinnamon haired boy ran into the living room, his older brother trailing behind, Sora pulled the sofa's pillows off, seemingly looking for something "Yeah! I could barely sleep!" He grinned, looking under the sofa now "Roxas kept kicking me, telling me to go to sleep, it's easier said than done!" He placed the pillows back, hopping on the couch to look behind it

Leon, who was leaning on the wall, watching his brother savage the room, yawned again "Are you looking for something?"

"Oh? Yeah!" Sora plopped back on the couch, deciding to look under the coffee table "My shoes! Roxas must have hidden them!"

Sora kept rambling about how mean his brother was, Leon quirked an eyebrow as he looked to his side, where a small table was, and under it, completely visible, were the boy's strangely large shoes.

Trying to be as quiet as possible, Leon picked up his brother's shoes, placing them right in the middle of the room, walking towards the kitchen this time "Good luck, I'm going to make breakfast" He waved his hand at Sora "Go wake Roxas up"

He waited a few seconds before entering the kitchen, awaiting Sora's response, when he was sure that the boy was about to reply, he heard a loud gasp instead.

"Leon look!" Sora came rushing in the hallway, showing his older brother his shoes "They were just there" He looked down at them, grinning again "It's like magic!" Sora giggled as Leon ruffled his hair, noticing his older brother stifling a smile of his own

"Go wake Roxas up." After his request, Sora just nodded and placed his shoes near the staircase, running up to his shared room. Leon made his way to the kitchen, opening the fridge to see what he could pull up for breakfast. Deciding on some simple chocolate chip pancakes -his brother's favorites-, he pulled up the ingredients and some bowls.

When he started mixing the dry ingredients, Leon heard loud footsteps coming down the stairs, and a second later, his legs were hugged by a giggling Sora, who was being chased by an angry looking Roxas

"What did he do?"

"Threw me off the bed!" The blond boy ran after Sora, passing around Leon's legs, the cinnamon-haired boy just giggled and crawled in-between his older brother's legs, rushing to the table, meanwhile, said older brother just continued his cooking, already used to his brothers energy during the morning.

"Hey Leon, why don't you use magic to cook?" Roxas asked, sitting on his twin's back, ignoring his protests "Rinoa always uses magic when cooking" the blonde remembered their older sister, she liked putting up a show for Roxas and Sora, making the food turn some extra turns and spins.

His brother just shrugged, continuing his cooking, "I like using my hands" he finished mixing the batter, taking out a pan and looking at his two brothers "You can't rely on magic at all times, you know."

"Yeah yeah, I know." The blonde said, getting up from Sora's back and heading to the fridge, taking out some milk and juice and placing it on the table. Sora whined a bit before helping him set the table.

When Leon placed the plate of freshly-made pancakes on the table, the twins had already finished setting the table up and had just plopped on their seats, ogling at their breakfast. Leon sat down on one of the ends of the table, finally taking a sip of his deserved coffee, Sora wrinkled his nose at the bitter liquid, he never understood why his older brother liked coffee, Sora only liked to make weird mixtures with it and call it a potion.

Shoving a piece of pancake on his mouth, he reached to the pile of letters on the other end of the table, where his and Roxas' letters were. He picked it up and scanned it for the 14th time, grinning as he bounced on his seat.

"The letter is still the same, you know," Leon started "Just because images can move, Hogwarts letters didn't reach that level quite yet." The brunet might have looked nonchalant, but he was still ecstatic that he finally would be able to spend more time with his brothers.

His parents were nice people, but they were always busy, his mum was always working over at St. Mungus, she had managed to take more breaks, fortunately. His dad worked at the ministry, but Leon doubted he could take care of Sora and Roxas by himself when his mum wasn't available, plus, Leon didn't really trust baby-sitters, so when he and his sister Rinoa moved out, they took them with them.

Rinoa lived really close to their parents, so it wasn't much of a change, when Leon had to leave to teach at Hogwarts, the twins would stay with their older sister, and during Summer, he could spend time with them.

Rinoa was sad, of course, she would pop up more during the Summer just to enjoy her last moments with the twins. She even demanded that she would help them shop for school supplies and take them to Kings Cross, Leon didn't oppose, he learned better than to decline his sister's requests.

"I just wanted to be sure!" Sora grinned, still looking at his supply list. "We're finally going to Hogwarts!"

"You keep saying that." Roxas couldn't help the grin on his face as well, they already learned the story about Hogwarts and an introduction to magic in their elementary school, besides all the other basic classes like math and english.

"I do not!" The cinnamon-haired boy objected weakly, not really paying attention. Finally putting the letter down and facing his brothers. "What do you think you'll be sorted, Roxas?"

"I don't know," he shrugged, but looked a bit hopeful, "I want to be in Gryffindor though, like Leon and Rinoa..." there was no way Roxas would miss his brother smile a bit. " What about you?"

Sora hummed, looking deep in thought, "Maybe Gryffindor like them too..." He crossed his arms now, feeling a bit torn "But I also kinda want to be in Slytherin"

"Riku?" his twin asked, Sora startled himself, why did he have to guess everything? "I don't think you have quite those traits" Roxas laughed a bit, watching his brother stick his tongue out.

"Shut it Roxas!" Sora turned back to his breakfast, decided to ignore the blond creature next to him "But us all being in Gryffindor would be nice" He looked at Leon, who was silent all this time, "Now I feel nervous, what if I don't get placed in Gryffindor like you guys?" he panicked a little, but felt calmer when Leon ruffled his hair.

"Whatever house you'll be in, you'll do great" A smile appeared on his face when he felt his brother relax. "Now eat up, we are meeting Rinoa up at 9".

After breakfast, both twins helped clean up before rushing upstairs to get ready. Leon also followed them, heading to his room. The first thing he did when he closed the door was check his drawer, where he kept the money their parents sent to buy the twins' school supplies. It had been a war to see who would pay, Rinoa had been the first person to offer buying them, Leon after along with their parents. Even when suggested that they could split, eventually, Raine and Laguna had won with the pretense that they felt that they should finance them, given that Leon and Rinoa took care of them when they couldn't.

Of course, Leon and Rinoa decided that they would buy each of them an animal - Owls, the twins decided at the time - once checking that, yes, the money was still there, he went to get ready, their sister always arrived before time, so she should be there any moment.

And in that moment, a loud "Hello!" was heard all through the house, his sister had arrived.

Dressing quickly, he was almost ran over when he left the room, all he saw was a blur of brown hair.

"Rinoa!" Sora called out, running down the stairs, the girl turned towards him, rushing towards him as he, per usual, almost tripped and fell, saved by his sister's arms as she took the chance to hug him.

"Watch out Sora!" She giggled, hugging him closer "I can't believe you will go to Hogwarts already!" Rinoa sniffed, stepping back to look at his brother "What will I do without any of you guys here? Leaving a girl all alone."

"Rinoa!" Roxas called out, walking down the stairs and hugging their sister.

"Roxas, Rinoa is making me feel bad for leaving her!" Sora whined, crossing his arms, he was already sad that he couldn't see their oldest sister as often as before, now she was also sad.

"I was just joking," She ruffled his hair "As long as you write to me everyday, it's fine!"

"Everyday?" The blonde gasped, wasn't it too much? What else was he to write everyday?

"Yep!" Rinoa stood up, smiling "I will write to you both as well, so I expect updates from you two as well."

"But--"

"Deal!"

Roxas immediately turned to Sora, who agreed without second thought, sighing, he agreed as well.

Leon finally made it down the stairs now, amused by the scene by the end of them. He greeted Rinoa, who greeted back three times the enthusiasm, the brunet offered his older sister a coffee, which she accepted, although he was pretty sure it was as an excuse to make time and catch up, given her amount of energy, more than usual, maybe it was just her still not getting used to the idea of their younger brothers leaving for school, he knew she wouldn't put a sad face in front of them, no matter how honest she was So he followed her silent wish, waisting as much time as possible during their coffee break.


	2. The Wand chooses its Wizard

"You have our parents' money?" Rinoa asked as they arrived at the Leaky Cauldron, Leon nodded as he gave her one of the twin's supply lists.

"Yep, let's go for supplies first or the books?" He asked, as they all headed towards the back of the pub, a family also joining in, opening the wall.

"Maybe the robes, since they will take a bit to make, we will get the rest meanwhile." The dark brown haired girl suggested, holding Sora in front of her, the younger boy almost hopping in his place. Leon nodded again, nudging Roxas forward as the family passed through, the group following them after.

"Don't walk too far from us." Rinoa alerted as the twins rushed forwards, gasping as they finally saw the strangely beautiful crooked cobbled street that was Diagon Alley. Sure, they had already been there, but it was only to go to Gringotts or get a book or two, they could barely see anything, Leon was a very straight forward man, no detours while Rinoa let them wander around a bit before having to leave.

It took them a while to get to Madam Malkin's, the energetic twins ran to pretty much every store's display, gawking at everything that they passed by.

"Look at that broom!" Sora chirped

"It's a Nimbus 2001, one of the best racing brooms models!" Roxas nearly drooled, ever since he was 5 that the blonde loved Quidditch, probably his biggest dream was to join a professional team, so he couldn't wait until he was in his second year at Hogwarts, just so he could try out for the team. Sora auto proclaimed himself his brother's one man-cheer squad.

"You know, you only have you and Cloud to blame this on." Rinoa giggled, nudging her younger brother with her elbow "But specially Cloud." Leon grunted in response

"Yeah yeah, whatever" The chocolate-haired man waved her off "Come on, we can walk around later."

Much to their dismay, they hurried off to Madam Malkin's, who took their measurements and asked some questions, before sending them off while she made the robes.

"Black robes, check," Rinoa said as she scribbled down on her list "What now, books, gear or wands?" She looked at Leon, who also risked off the robes from the list and adding some notes next to it.

"Wands!" Sora chirped, jumping in his spot

"Yes!" Roxas joined in, looking at Rinoa with pleading eyes "Please?" he added for good measure

"You two can't seriously think that wil-"

"It's decided then!" Rinoa interrupted him, making her way to Ollivanders, Leon just sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, before following them.

A couple of detours later -due to the twins gawking at various displays-, they arrived at the poor illuminated store, every wall was covered in shelves, filled with boxes of various wands. Some lone flower pots here and there, and a single counter near the back of the entrance, when close to it, you could see the dark corridors of shelves that went into the back of the store, poorly illuminated with some candles.

"Hello?" Sora bounced on his feet, clinging to the counter and looking around "This place is so creepy."

"But it's cool!" Roxas added, peering at the shelves before jumping back with a sudden figure popping into view.

"Thank you, young one." A seemingly old man appeared into view, standing in top of some stepladders than had slid from the middle corridor "I presume you are here for your wands, step forward, here." The old man stepped down the ladders, walking around the counter and urged one of the twins forward, which Sora nudged Roxas immediately forward, apparently scared of the man.

"You're mister Ollivanders, right?" Roxas asked, sighing as the wandmaker pulled out a long measuring tape with silver markings on it from his front pocket, Roxas recognized it from the same tape Madam Malkin used when she measured them.

Pale silvery eyes looked down on him, as he measured Roxas' shoulder until his finger, then letting go of the tape as it magically started moving on its own, finishing the measurements "Yes, I am." Ollivanders said, more focused on his shelves now, approaching them and looking around, pulling boxes and talking to himself.

Sora looked up at Leon, who shrugged in response "That's how he works."

"Ah, mister Leonhart, I still remember your wand," The wandmaker said as he came back, holding around 10 boxes of wands, placing them carefully on his counter "A fairly heavy ebony wand." He carefully opened one of the boxes, investigating the wand before walking around the counter, waving the tape off, which crumbled on the floor next to the blonde's feet "Dragon heartstring, twelve and three-quarters inches long, a powerful wand indeed."

"Woah, did he memorized it?" Sora gaped as Roxas held the wand that Ollivander placed in front of him.

"He recognizes and remembers every wand that he ever made." Rinoa said, peering at the wand Roxas had now

"Yes, miss. Heartilly per example, has a elegant English Oak wand, a White River Monster spine as a core. Very rare to find such a spine." He turned to Rinoa, deep in thought, he had made that wand years ago, a lone wizard traveler had gave him that spine. Ollivander had suspected that that traveler was from Thiago Quintana's family, given that the only wandmaker who knew how to lure such a gigantic fish was him. Regardless, Ollivander made a wand out of it, but didn't found anyone who could wield it besides Rinoa "Unlike your family members, you have a different wand core."

"Yep!" Rinoa giggled, taking her wand out of her robe pocket smiling at it. Everyone from her family, including Leon had Dragon-Heartstring, at first she felt strange for not having the same core as her parents, but she grew to love her wand, Ollivanders looked at the wand with proud nostalgia before looking at the small blonde boy in front of him.

"Now, come on, try it out," He urged Roxas, who looked around confused "Just wave it.".

Roxas nodded, looking at Sora, a small act that gave him a boost of confidence, before focusing on the wand. Was he supposed to feel anything special? Like a burst of magic? He and Sora had experienced magic themselves, of course, like sneezing and accidentally shattering the windows of Rinoa's house. Or when he stepped on Sora's foot and the drawers flying open when his twin yelped in pain.

But wands are supposed to be different, no? They helped channeling and controlling your magic better, so why didn't Roxas feel anything different?

Regardless, he waved the wand a bit, flicking it down towards a stack of papers, which bursted and flew everywhere, scaring him due to the sudden sound.

"No, no, not this one..." Ollivanders mumbled, taking his wand out of his inner coat pocket, waving it at the mess of papers while looking through the boxes again. Roxas placed the wand back on its original box, nudging it away from the mess, he looked at the papers again and found them neatly stacked again. "Try this one, here." He gave him a thin light brown one, he picked it up and gulped a bit, looking around for a place he could wave it safely without accidentally destroying anything.

He focused on an empty spot near the counter, carefully flicking it down. The wand immediately jumped out of his hand into the air, almost like someone had forcefully snatched it from his hand. Sora jumped a bit and grabbed it, quickly putting it on the table and looking at Roxas nervously.

"That's a no as well?" His twin laughed weakly, surprised by the wand almost falling on his head.

"Yes, that's no good" Ollivanders hummed, looking at the boxes again before pulling another one "Try this one" He gave Roxas the wand, but he didn't picked it up right away, instead, he looked at his older siblings for reasurement, he was a bit concerned that he wouldn't find a wand good for him any time soon.

Noticing his distress, Rinoa smiled warmly "Come on Roxas, third time's the charm!" She motioned him to pick the wand. Nodding, he grabbed the wand, the wood felt comfortable, the handle was almost a perfect fit.

Gripping it tighter to flick it down like the previous attempts, he jumped a bit when he felt sudden tingling in his hand, creeping towards his arm, he blinked down at the wand, flicking it just a tiny bit.

The tingling got stronger but he didn't let go, he gripped the handle tighter and felt a breeze coming from it, ruffling his already messy hair. The tingling stopped and Roxas snapped back to reality, looking around to check any potential damage he might have caused which was, surprisingly, none.

"It seems that we have found the one" Ollivanders seemed pleased "Yew wood with a dragon heartstring core," a quick glance at the wand, as if studying it, "Flexible and sturdy, 10 inches long" He gave Roxas the box, turning to Sora now "Shall we?".

Roxas stepped back, showing his wand to his brothers, overjoyed. Sora stood forward, bouncing a bit on his feet. The wandmaker waved the tape, now measuring Sora, who seemed now excited to get his own wand.

"Sora, if you don't stop moving he can't measure you correctly." Rinoa chuckled, which made the cinnamon-haired boy pout in response, staying quiet until the tape crumbled once again, this time, it floated into a roll and gently fell on the counter.

Ollivander pushed the other wands aside, placing some new boxes on it and picked one up, handing it to Sora.

"Wave it a bit, right?" Sora asked to himself, holding the wand and inspecting it for a bit before flicking it, a cloud of smoke immediately exploded from the tip, startling the boy.

"No no, that won't do, these types won't suit you..." Ollivanders mumbled again, pushing three of the boxes aside as well, looking through the pile again. Sora put the wand back in its original box, peering now at the labels they had. "Maybe this one."

The cinnamon haired boy picked up the new wand, he felt the same as the other one before, nothing, but he still flicked the wand down, although nothing happened besides some papers exploding.

For Sora, the wand searching was a bit more complicated. At some point, Leon had to leave for a bit to get the robes from Madam Malkin, even when he returned, Sora was still trying wands. The wandmaker stopped bothering cleaning up the mess the wands did when trying them out, which Rinoa politely organized and cleaned up after him.

Ollivander didn't seem to bother, looking more enthusiastic and determined to find him a wand.

"I guess this isn't it?" Sora pouted, looking at the drawers that flew out from the table behind the counter, placing the wand back into the mess of boxes while Rinoa picked up the drawers.

"Very intriguing, none of this wands seem to uphold your potential" Ollivanders went around the back again, looking for a certain section.

"Or the lack of it" Roxas snickered, receiving a glare from both Rinoa and Sora.

Ollivanders stopped dead in his tracks, looking up at a shelf, he seemed deep in thought. After a while, he looked at Sora, like he was inspecting him. He reached out for the box, re-reading the label to make sure he was correct before going up the front again.

Sora tilted his head at his choice of quantity of boxes, the last four times the wandmaker had went in the back, he always came back with an armful of boxes.

"None of these seem to fit you, maybe this one." He looked back at the box, finally opening it up and leaned it down so Sora could take it.

It was a long, light colored wand, it was simpler than Roxas', which had intricate details. Sora picked it up, but the moment the boy touched it, a light erupted from the tip, along with a burst of wind, blinding momentarily everyone in the room. Sora opened his eyes, using his other hand to partially cover the light, light particles and sparkles floated around the wand, gently floating down until the floor. Suddenly, he felt a strong tingling sensation and everything stopped, the light, the wind and the tingling.

"What was that?" Roxas asked immediately, rushing to his twin's side and looking at the wand.

"It looks like we found the one" Ollivanders seemed a bit distracted, handing Sora the box. "Aspen wood with a Phoenix Feather core. Flexible but sturdy, a surprisingly long wand, reaching 13 inches." He reached around the counter, looking down at Sora with his silvery eyes "Great things are to be expected of you, young boy." Sora looked confused

"Great... Things?" He looked down at the wand, confused, what was he on about?

"Aspen wood, fit for the greatest of duelists" He started, holding Sora's wand now, inspecting it. "Wands with this certain wood only chose revolutionary wizards, people who will accomplish great things" The wand maker still seemed a bit distracted as he looked at the wand.

"A Phoenix Feather core, they make such picky wands" He only has made a couple of them, feathers from phoenix's where extremely rare "Picky, but once you are able to fulfill its expectations, it will be your biggest ally, supporting you with such incredible strength."

Sora looked now absolutely confused, barely retaining any information. Incredible strength? Biggest ally? What was he saying?

"What?" That's all the brunet could say

"You'll learn with time, Sora." Ollivander squeezed his shoulder "After all, the wand chooses its wizard.".

"It chose me?" He looked down again at his new wand, yes, he was more than happy that such a great wand, at least from what the wandmaker said, chose him, but part of him thought that there should be a mistake there. Sora has barely done anything outstanding. He kept losing to Riku in every game they played, Roxas was more gifted than him in school. Sora was clumsy, loud, and always the one that needed to be looked for.

"Don't overthink it." Leon spoke, almost like he could read his thoughts. "It chose you, so it should mean something." his older brother said, taking out his wallet to pay for the wands, giving no choice for Sora to refuse the wand.

"Alright..."

Wands and cloak were both checked now on Rinoa and Leon's list, they decided to go get the books and stationary first, then the potions gear last. Sora was still a bit distracted after the talk they had in Ollivanders, Rinoa was holding on to the wands, but he still felt the heavyweight of the piece of wood in his hand.

Entering Flourish and Blotts, they were surrounded by chatter, boys and girls running around and laughing. Roxas has to nudge Sora out of his trance, pointing to the books flying above them, storing themselves in their shelves.

Rinoa and Leon handed them some of their books that they had, telling both boys to wait while they got the rest, so the twins distracted themselves looking at random pages from the books.

"Hey, Sora!" The boy turned his head, looking around for the voice who called him over the noise. Although his suspicions were cleared when he saw silver hair rushing down the stairs of the bookshop.

"Riku!" Sora grinned, his mood immediately better. The cinnamon haired boy ran towards his best friend, almost running him over. "Look!" He almost planted the copy of "Hogwarts: A History" on the older boy's nose "I'm finally going to Hogwarts with you!"

The silveret boy laughed, lowering the book down so he could look at Sora "I can tell." He adjusted his second year books on his arm better "Where is Roxas?"

"Right here" An annoyed voice sounded behind them, the blond pouted when Sora turned around "Thanks for warning me, I guess Riku is more important.".

"Oops! Sorry!" Sora laughed sheepishly, Roxas rolled his eyes at the fact that his brother didn't exactly denied his last statement.

"So, are you joining the Quidditch team this year?" Roxas asked, he knew that Riku also wanted to join the team, and he saw him practice a bit with his brothers.

"Yeah! I wanna try out for the chaser position" He said, confidence floating atop "My dad will get me a broom if I do, so I got to."

"Riku can do it!" Sora grinned, holding his best friend's arm and shaking it a bit "There's nothing Riku can't do!"

Roxas didn't miss the small embarrassed blush that passed through the older boy's cheeks. "Oh! Where's Kairi?"

"Haven't seen her." Riku's voice immediately flattened out, Roxas presumed it was because Sora turned his attention to their other friend.

"Oh, okay" Sora shrugged, clearly oblivious to his friend's mood swing "Hey Riku, let's go to the joke shop later!" The cinnamon-haired boy grinned, shaking Riku's arm again.

"Alright!" Roxas snickered at the immediate mood lifter, which Riku only threw a slight glare at him "Roxas isn't coming"

"Hey what did I do?" Roxas just kept laughing, knowing his suspicions were correct "Whatever, come on Sora, I see Leon there" He urged Sora along, who just whined and pulled his best friend along by the arm.

Leon spotted them and walked towards them, taking the books they were holding and carried them all in one arm He nodded at Riku as a greeting, followed by Rinoa who popped behind her brother.

"Oh, hello Riku!" She grinned, Rinoa knew Riku for almost as long as Sora knew him. Many times that Sora had invited Riku to her house to play, or when she took Sora to his house to play as well.

"Hello, miss Heartilly" Riku said politely, which was returned with a pout and a grumble from her.

"It's Rinoa, Merlin, you make me feel old" She chuckled, taking Leon with her to pay for the books.

The three chatted for a while before Riku had to go find his dad as well, promising to go find them later before rushing off.

After the books were crossed off the list, and a bicker between Leon and Sora to see who would take the books (Sora would be as strong as Leon and Riku, the little one pointed out), Roxas rushed towards to the Magical Menagerie, excited to choose a pet, Rinoa followed suit.

Sora was the last one arriving, not admitting the books were maybe a tab bit heavy, but his ego was on the line there.

The store felt welcoming, the smell of animal food and the noises felt nostalgic. Sora observed the walls lined with cages, he spotted Roxas on a corner, looking at the ferrets, he seemed more interested into a sandy colored one, who was bouncing around in its cage. The cinnamon haired boy peeked at the cats on the bottom cage, none of them really catching his eye, - and not like the cats noticed him either -.

Sora considered a frog, they were hopping around and they were funny, but all of them on the tank were still too small to be adopted, so he carried on. His arms tired, he walked until the entrance, setting down his books next to Leon, who was looking at the store's pamphlet, not wanting to disturb him, Sora twirled around, nearly knocking over an empty Owl cage, sadly, it still rattled and woke the owl resting on the second cage.

Squeaking, Sora rushed towards the cage, feeling the need to apologize to the bird. "Sorry!" He expected loud hoots and screeching from it, but instead, the owl was looking at him, tilting its neck, Sora couldn't help but stare back into the dark colored orbs - with a tint of brown -.

Suddenly, the owl hooted, scaring the boy, who wanted to step back if it wasn't for the shop owner.

"I-I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to scare her!" Sora squeaked, backing up against the shopkeeper's legs.

"Don't worry dear," The lady said sweetly "She seems to like you, she usually ignores everyone." She calmly waved her hand towards the cage, where the owl used its beak to gently tap her. "You like owls? You knew her gender, it's hard for a beginner."

Sora, who was now watching the owl, slowly reached his, jumping a bit, startled when she beaked him as well "I dunno, I just guessed..."

"That's a lucky guess then." The lady laughed, urging Sora forward "She won't bite you, go on, she'll think you're scared."

'And I am' Sora thought bitterly, when he said he wanted a owl, it was out of impulse, owls were huge and could easily bit his face off.

The little bird tried her best to rub her head against the boy's finger through the cage, Sora smiled a bit at the clumsy movements of the owl, reaching his finger to ruffle the bird's feathers.

"Do you like that one?" A sudden voice spoke right behind them, scaring the cinnamon haired boy, jamming his finger into the cage.

"Rinoa! Don't scare me like that!" Sora whined, easing his finger out the cage grids, pouting at his older sister.

"Aw! It's so cute!" Said girl ignored her brother's whines, looking at the owl that was crooking it's neck, staring back at her "Wanna take it?" She smiled at Sora.

The young wizard looked back at the bird, who was currently cleaning her wing feathers, he felt affection bubbling up in his chest and he couldn't help but smile. Nodding at his older sister, he said; "Yep! What should I call her?" He turned back to her sister, who just looked at the store owner.

"Oh, she's a girl? Hmm, let me see" Rinoa scratched her chin in thought, placing her other hand on her hip "What about Cinnamon? You two would match." The girl giggled at the boy's pout.

"That's a cat or dogs name! It needs to be special" He turned back to the owl "Like something more fierce and scary sounding." His mind immediately went to Riku's dad, but just the thought of letting him know would send chills down his spine, his dad was scarier as it was without him knowing his son's best friend named an owl after him. "What about Excalibur?"

"Sora sweetie I don't think that's a suitable name for an-"

"Woah, are you naming it that? Neat!" Roxas rushed to their side, a ferret nestled around his neck. "Can we call it Cali for short? Excalibur is kinda of a mouthful"

"What, no!" Sora pouted "It doesn't sound as cool looking!"

"It works best for an animal's name" Rinoa rushed, looking at the store owner, who was watching in amusement "Is it fine?" The lady just nodded, going towards the back to get the appropriate cages for Roxas' ferret and Sora's owl. "So Roxas, did you choose a ferret instead? What are you naming it?"

"This is Seasalt!" He gently unwrapped the ferret from his neck, showing it to his siblings "She's awesome, isn't she?"

"Seasalt?" The girl said aloud, to be sure, she knew Sea Salt ice cream was his favorite treat, but never to this extent.

After the lady arrived with the cages, she took out two little silver plaques, using her wand to cast an engraving spell, so they had SeaSalt's and Cali's name engraved on them, finally, attaching them to the bottom of the cages.

While Sora and Roxas helped her move the pet's from their original cages to the new ones, she explained to Leon and Rinoa everything and all the items they needed to take care of the two animals.

After that, Rinoa took the twins to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour while Leon finished the shopping, Sora chose the Chocolate Chili flavour while Roxas, obviously, chose the Sweet and Salty vanilla, or like everyone called it, Sea Salt flavour.

Rinoa took the liberty to cross out on her list everything that was missing; the potion ingredients from the Apothecary; the cauldrons from the Potage's cauldron shop; the ink and parchments from Scribbilus Writing Equipment, and finally the quills from the Amanuensis Quills. Placing the list back on her bag, she watched the two boys laugh over their icecreams, feeling the upcoming sadness rise, knowing she would be only able to see them over breaks, but she knew she had to be strong and not ruining the moment both of them were awaiting for years.

Leon soon came back, flopping down on a seat and setting everything down next to them, after a few minutes of chatting, Sora rose to his seat, asking if him and Roxas could meet Riku at the Gambol and Japes joke shop, after they got the permission, the boy leaped out of his seat, rushing out of the store, followed by his twin. Leon just sighed and ordered a Earl Grey Lavender Ice cream for himself. (Rinoa joining in and asking for an Apple Crumble one).

When the twins got there, there were no signs of Riku, they were probably still too early, but Sora didn't mind waiting. Roxas did, he just groaned and sat on the stairs, leading down to the shop, leaning his head back to see if the other boy was coming, but was met with red hair.

"Hello! I knew I saw you two running here!"

"Kairi!" Sora leaped over his brother, joining the other girl "Did you finish your shopping?"

"Yep! Just looking for my brother, I thought he was probably in there again." She nodded towards the joke shop, shrugging "Guess I still need to keep looking" Kairi grinned, looking at the two boys. "Are you excited about Hogwarts?" The red haired had a little bounce to her "I can't wait!"

"Yes!" Sora nodded, bouncing as well, Kairi would be a first year alongside them "What house do you want to be?"

Kairi shrugged "I don't mind any, Grandma is a Ravenclaw, she said our parents were Hufflepuff."

"And your brother is a Slytherin" Roxas added, watching people pass by "I guess you need to be a Gryffindor, you know, to get the whole package."

"Hmm, I guess." Kairi smiled, Gryffindor did sound good to her, and she already thought about it, but even if she got put into another house, she wouldn't be surprised.

Sora was about to speak when an old looking lady popped up next to them, "Hello my dears, it's so nice to see you," The twins looked up, it was the redhead's grandmother, both of the boys greeted the Lady, remembering the days they all piled up in her living room, playing around and eating her delicious treats. Sora specially loved her Butterbeer Pudding cookies. "Kairi, have you found your brother?" The girl waved her head, sighing.

They chatted a bit more before they had to go and find the missing sibling, so the twins sat on the stairs, waiting while throwing little pebbles at the barrel in the corner.

After 10 minutes, and Roxas winning at their made up game, Riku finally appeared, apologizing, as his dad dragged him around for a bit more.

Entering Gambol and Japes, the trio felt excitement bubbling up inside them. The store was a bit dark, lightened up by a few floating candles. The store had horizontal hallway filled with green shelves near the entrance, to their left, piled up with joke items. There was some stairs until you had to go down until you saw the whole shop, a large squared room, completely filled with boxes, green shelves and the sound of music mixed with a clown laughter was heard in the air. In the counter, a man with white beard, all dressed up with a tall hat and a vest, both of them were half sparkling purple, half red, he welcomed them to the store, ushering them in.

A large cauldron sat in the middle, completely filled with all types of fireworks. The twins sighed, knowing that no matter how much they tried convincing their brother, Leon wouldn't let them keep any piece of firework.

Moving towards the side, they focused in the smaller prank items, dungbombs, stink pellets, exploding luminous balloons and even biting tea cups. Roxas picked up a deck of Exploding Snap for himself, taking one for the other two boys as well.

Riku got some nose-biting teacups, having his brothers in mind for his prank, Sora eyes the newly stocked Frog spawn Soap, grinning as he mixed it with their items, hoping Roxas wouldn't notice.

Having bought everything, the twins parted with Riku, promising they would see each other back on the Hogwarts Train.

Rushing back to the ice cream shop, the boys went back to their brothers, who where in a middle of a banter that, none of the twins really understood what was going on, so they sat back and watched the argument until Leon noticed them.

Finally, they went to browse shop displays and some off shops here and there before the twins' legs were sore, prompting Leon to end their day there and go back to their house.


End file.
